Ankle support for skates



Nov. 10, 1942. J, c, SU HERLAND f 2,301,476

ANKLE SUPPORT FOR SKATES Fil ed Dec. 5. 1940 Patented Nov. 10, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT oF-Frcs;

John C. Sutherland, Jackson*,'Mich. 7

Application December 5, 1940, Serial No. 368,561

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in supports and braces designed to enable persons with undeveloped or weak muscles in the region of the lower leg and ankle to more fully enjoy the exercise and recreation of ice skating.

In the patented art is found numerous supports and braces for ice skates. For the most part, such prior devices appear to be of complicated and expensive design capable of seriously interfering with a normal skating stroke. There is some evidence that certain of such devices appeared upon the markets without success.- An investigation reveals the only braces or supports carried in stock by sporting goods concerns'are. those designed to embrace the ankle in the manner of a bandage inside the skate shoe. At the present time most ice skates are sold attached to especially designed skating shoes with the skates being riveted to the bottom of the shoes. The present invention is primarily concerned with a support which may be conveniently attached as an accessory to this type of shoe skate;

In its preferred form, the present invention comprises a simple, inexpensive, stamping of sheet metal which is relatively rigid transversely of the skate with a considerable degree of resiliency longitudinally of the skate. This stamping has an inturnedfoot which is designed to be inserted between the shoe plate of the skate and the heel of the shoe to rigidly support the main body of the support along the back of the shoe. For transverse rigidity and conformity to the back of the shoe, the support for a portion of its length ispf concave-convex section with the upper portion in the form of a relatively narrow tongue, resiliently in a direction longitudinally of the skate. Carried above the ankle is a clip which forms a slot in which the resilient tongue portion of the support has relative sliding movement. This clip may be secured to the shoe or held in position solely by a strap.

Thus one of the objects of the invention is to provide a novel and improved two part support for shoe skates attachable as an accessory, one of the parts embracing the shoe above the ankle, with the other part rigid in one plane and resilient in another plane and having a sliding connection with the first part.

Another object resides in providing a support for shoe skates in the form of two sheet metal stampings, one of the stampings being attached at the back and above the ankle and provides a slot with the other stamping secured to the back of the shoe to provide an upright member rigid in one plane but having a resilient tongue portion at its upper end operating in the slot-formed by the other stamping.

Another object is to provide a support for shoe skates comprising a spring metal part having an inturned foot to be driven between the shoe plate of the skate and the heel of the shoe to position an upright portion thereby along the back of the shoe, the upper end of the upright portion being resilient in one direction and rigid in another for connection to a clip or its equivalent attached to or otherwise located at the back of the shoe.

A further object resides in providing a support for shoe skates in the form of a one piece sheet metal stamping attachable to the back of the shoe and shaped at its lower end to be relatively rigid in all directions, and at its upper end to be rigid in one direction and resilient in another.

These and other objects and advantages residing in the combination, arrangement and construction of parts will appear from the following description and annexed claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a shoe skate equipped with the present invention,

Fig. 2 is a rear Viewof the shoe skate of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the main part of the support,

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line IV-IV of 'Fig. l of the clip 'part of the support,

Fig. 5 shows a section taken on line VV of Fig. lshowing the foot of the upright in position,

Figs. 6 and 7 are sectional views of the upright taken on lines VIVI and VII-VII of Fig. 3, respectively,

Fig. 8- shows the action of the parts when the foot is flexed forward,

Fig. 9'is a fragmentary side elevational view of a modified form of the invention,

Fig. 10 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of the clip and upright shown in Fig. 9, and

Fig. 11 is a sectional view showing a modified form of fastening means for the upright.

Referring to the drawing, the support, which is preferably designed to be attached as an accessory, comprises an upright l0, and a clip l2. These two parts may be inexpensively stamped from sheet metal. In practice the upright ll! may be satisfactorily stamped from spring steel or hard cold rolled stock of .030" to .040" thickness. As more clearly shown in Fig. 3, the upright In has an inturned foot M, a relatively wide lower portion l6 of concaveconvex cross-section, an intermediate portion l8 with tapered sides of less cross-sectional curvature, and an upper tongue portion 20 relatively flat in cross section and having relatively parallel sides. The shape of the portions l6 and I8 is such as to give rigidity in all directions while the tongue 20 is rigid in the direction of its width and resilient in the direction of its thickness to give back and forth freedom of movement to the foot. In side elevation, the shape of the upright conforms generally to that of the back of the skate shoe.

The clip I2 is preferably fabricated by severing the metal along parallel lines 22 and 24 and deflecting the metal between these lines outwardly to form an arch 26 which with the undeflected portion of the clip form a substantially rectangular slot on which the tongue portion 20 is confined for relative sliding movement, The

wings 23 and 30 of the clip l2 are slightly curved to conform to the shape of the shoe and wearers legs. As more clearly shown in Fig. 4, the clip I2 is secured to the shoe 32 by split rivets 34 passed through openings 36. To distribute the strain upon the clip l2 in use, I have shown a leather strap 38 rivetedin place between the shoe 32 and the clip I2. This strap is otherwise free from the shoe 32 and is buckled and unbuckled upon putting the shoes on and off. As shown in Fig. *l, the tongue 20 projects slightly above the clip 20 so as to prevent the same from being pulled out of the clip when the top to the shoe 32 is flexed forward in the manner shown in Fig; 8.

The upright 10 is designed to be attached to the shoe 32 by forcing the foot l4 between the shoe plate 40 of the skate 42 and the heel 44 of the shoe 32 firmly attached to the plate 46 by rivets 4E. The construction just described is found to be to standard practice in most shoe skates on the market as is the practice of having the rearward rivets 4B spaced as shown which enables the foot I4 to be passed between them. In some skates it may be found that the rivets are too close together to accommodate the foot [4, in which event it becomes necessary to grind the sides of the foot I 4 to a width which will pass the rivets. With the foot [4 forced into its position, a sufiicient distance to bring the foot, portion I4 flush against the back of the shoe 32, the upright I is then firmly secured to the shoe by rivets 48gpassed through the holes 50 and the body of the shoe 32. The portion l8 and tongue 20 of the upright I 0 are free from the shoe 32 except for the connections between the tongue 20 and clip l2 at the top of the shoe above the ankle.

In Figs. 9 and is shown a modified form in which the clip [2 is riveted to the strap 38 without being riveted to the shoe 32'. With ankle, the clip l2 will be held in position at th rear and top of the shoe. It is to be understood, that the protuberance 5| will be located a sum cient distance above the clip l2 when the strap 38' is tightened as not to interfere with the movement of the foot to and fro.

,In Fig. 11 the upright I0 is shown held in position by a thin headed bolt 52 pulled into the body of the shoe 32 by the nut 53 to avoid any possible discomfort. Some persons may find that bolts and nuts may be more conveniently used to secure the upright Hi to the shoe than split rivets. The hole 54 in the body of the shoe 32 can be made by any suitable instrument such as a leather awl.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent and claim is: r 1. An ankle support for attachment as an accessory to skates with attached shoes comprising a one piece sheet metal' stamping of resilient metal having an upright portion relatively wide at its lower end and terminating in an elongated narrow tongue at its upper ends, an angularly disposed base portion at the extreme lower end adapted to be driven between the heel support of the skates and the heel of the shoe, an opening in said wide part of said upright to receive a fastener to secure the lower ends of said spring portion to the shoe, a slotted clip 10- catable at the upper portion of the shoe and receiving with sliding movement said tongue.

2. An ankle support for attachment as an accessory to skates with attached shoes comprising a sheet metal stamping of resilient metal having an upright portion relatively wide at its lower end and terminating in an elongated narrow tongue at its upper ends, a base portion at the lower end for engagement with the heel of the shoe, and a slotted clip locatable at the upper portion of the shoe and receiving with sliding movement said tongue.

3. An ankle support for attachment as accessory to skates with attached shoes comprising a sheet metal stamping of resilient metal having an upright portion relatively wide at its lower end and terminating in an elongated narrow tongue at its upper ends, a base portion at the lower end adapted to engage with the heel, and a slotted clip locatable at the upper portion of the shoe and receiving with sliding movement said tongue.

JOHN C. SUTHERLAND. 

